I've always been a tequila man.

For no reason whatsoever, I added my ten favorite flicks to the sidebar. And really, these are not the flicks I'd bring out when trying to impress people, they are just my ten personal favorites. The things I pop in when I drink, need comfort viewing, or feel intensely uninspired. They're just perfect. And actually at the moment it's only eight, so we'll see what I can come up with later...

They aren't in any particular order, except maybe the first one. Streets of Fire is just flat out my favorite movie (hence the usage of Ellen Aim). This is a bad movie. Let's just get that out of the way. It's terrible! Even Diane Lane hates it! But I absolutely love it. It's one of the few films, in my opinion, that is completely uniform in its style, thereby allowing me to fully accept the little world it shows me. This movie has Diane Lane, Rick Moranis, Amy Madigan (Ed Harris's wife, think Field of Dreams), and none other than Willem Dafoe (in black pastic garbagebag-style overalls, get that!). It also has Michael "Who?" Pare, who I once saw in Hope Floats, and if there was some way I could have avoided learning that first hand, I wish I had.

This movie has a killer soundtrack (Ry Cooder, The Blasters), an amazing look and style (a very sexy mesh of 50s and 80s), perfect characters and dialogue ("Are we gonna talk about it or are we gonna do it?"), and the best plot ever: rock and roll girl gets kidnapped by badass motorcycle gang, her badass ex has to come rescue her, then has crowbar smackdown with motorcycle leader. Hot! Damn! Who doesn't love this movie already?! And I bet you all know Warriors instead. It's almost the same damn movie, only Warriors is '79 and this is '84. Both Walter Hill. And yet that one makes all the cult lists and cult lines. I was unimpressed by Warriors. The only you reason you may know this film (without even realizing it), is because this is the film that the 80s song I Can Dream About You by Dan Hartman was from. But really, I have met two people in my entire life who ever knew of this movie.

Anyway, since this is '84, Diane Lane is 19. I'm 27 and have never and will never look that smokin'. Although I admit I really want to be Ellen Aim on the outside, it'd be McCoy (Amy Madigan) on the inside. McCoy has all the lines, the very best scene of hers undoubtedly being her first. Every single line of hers. I want it. McCoy is probably the one I actually idolize more. In a very interesting sidenote, I saw Amy Madigan in an interview once saying that the script originally called for Tom Cody's sidekick to be a little Mexican man named Mendez. She convinced the director it was the best part and she wanted it. Ta da! And thank god, cause this movie really would have sucked.

And upon perusing imdb's trivia, this was supposed to be the first in a trilogy of actions flicks with Michael Pare as Tom Cody. The box office was just that bad. Too bad it wasn't made today, when things like Inspector Gadget and Garfield start making sequels before the first one even has a chance to bomb abysmally.

I just think it's so much fun. I just love everything about it. And don't bother telling me how awful it is. I have no doubt that if I saw it for the first time today I wouldn't love it as much (though I do still think I'd like it). I've been watching this film since I was probably 10 or thereabouts, so clarity of perspective isn't real high on my list of concerns. I still seek out nearly every Diane Lane movie (yes, I have seen Judge Dredd, my loyalty knows no bounds) and nearly killed my bastard friend Hollywood Mark when he got to direct her in a series of spots for Lifetime. She was complementing him on his age, saying he looked too young to be a director. Knowing my crazy obsession, he did manage to squeeze in, "Young enough to have seen Streets of Fire in the theatre!" Maybe she took it as a slam, who knows, but she kinda shut up after that.

So I highly recommend this film. The sound MUST be cranked; if you have surround sound, so much the better. I also highly recommend drinking with this film, as it is just a rockin' good time to be had by all. Certainly try not to take it seriously or find fault--after all, it pulls one of the very best carte blanche moves of all time: the first words to hit the screen? "Another Time, Another Place."